Book V.
Chap. 15.from fond to mouth; were he to encumber himself with a large quantity of merchandises, he would lose more by the exorbitant interest he must give for money, than he could possibly get by the goods. Wherefore there are no laws here relating to commerce; they are all reduced to what is called the civil polity.
A government cannot be unjust without having hands to exercise its injustice. Now it is impossible but these hands will be grasping for themselves. The embezzling of the public money is therefore natural in despotic states.
As this is a common crime under this government, confiscations are very useful. By these the people are eased; the money drawn by this means being a considerable tribute which could hardly be raised on the exhausted subjects: neither is there in those countries any one family which the prince would be glad to preserve.
In moderate governments it is quite a different thing. Confiscations would render property uncertain, would strip innocent children, would destroy a whole family instead of punishing a single criminal. In republics they would be attended with the mischief of subverting equality, which is the very soul of this government, by depriving a citizen of his necessary subsistence.
There is a Roman law[1] against[2] confiscations except in the case of Crimea majestatis, or high treason of the most heinous nature. It would be a prudent thing to follow the spirit of this law, and to limit confiscations to particular crimes. In coun-
